November 1, 2012 | Combined Reports - UConn Communications

UConn Alum Inducted into American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Michael North '76 MA, '81 Ph.D., a professor of English at UCLA, was inducted last month into one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious learned societies.

Michael North '76 MA, '81 Ph.D., Professor of English, University of California, Los Angeles, signs the American Academy of Arts and SciencesÕ Book of Members, a tradition that dates back to 1780.

Michael North '76 MA, '81 Ph.D., Professor of English, University of California, Los Angeles, signs the American Academy of Arts and SciencesÕ Book of Members, a tradition that dates back to 1780.

Michael North '76 MA, '81 Ph.D., a professor of English at UCLA, signs the American Academy of Arts and Sciences'• Book of Members, a tradition that dates back to 1780.
Michael North ’76 MA, ’81 Ph.D., a professor of English at UCLA, signs the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’• Book of Members, a tradition that dates back to 1780.

UConn alumnus Michael North, a professor of English at the University of California, Los Angeles, was among 180 influential artists, scientists, scholars, authors, and institutional leaders who were inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences at a ceremony in Cambridge, Mass. on Oct. 6. North earned his master’s in English in 1976 and his Ph.D. in 1981, both from UConn.

Founded in 1780, the American Academy is one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious learned societies, and an independent research center that draws from its members’ expertise to conduct studies in science and technology policy, global security, the humanities and culture, social policy, and education.

Last year, UConn faculty member Robert Colwell, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, was inducted into the Academy. David Kenny, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of Psychology Emeritus, and Gene Likens, Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, are also members.

“Induction recognizes the achievement and vitality of today’s most accomplished individuals who together with the Academy will work to advance the greater good,” said Academy President Leslie Berlowitz. “These distinguished men and women are making significant strides in their quest to find solutions to the most pressing scientific, humanistic, and policy challenges of the day.”

Since its founding by John Adams, James Bowdoin, John Hancock, and other scholar-patriots, the American Academy has elected leading “thinkers and doers” from each generation. The current membership includes more than 300 Nobel laureates, some 100 Pulitzer Prize winners, and many of the world’s most celebrated artists and performers.